Travel Toys for Toddlers

Some parents might argue that travelling with toddlers may be the most challenging time of travelling with kids. Having lived over in the UK for quite some time, we've had to travel with our boys on long haul flights to and from Australia at the different age milestones - baby, toddler, preschool and now early primary school age. I think each milestone has it's own challenges, but travelling with toddlers is challenging as we can't seem to "negotiate" with toddlers as effectively(!) as we can with preschoolers and school aged kids.

My answer is always - be prepared!

Entertaining kids on long haul flights is a combination of planning, packing age appropriate travel toys and also pre-empting what may happen next! If they are getting tired and grumpy - change their toys to something that may soothe and relax them. For example, books are great for changing their focus to a calmer state.

Here are some other fun travel toys for toddlers:

* Balloons - perfect to blow up and chase during stopovers! Bring a fly swat as well and you will be able to entertain them for hours in a quiet airport corner.

* Puppets



Story telling with puppets are also a fun way to entertain toddlers on flights. They may just want to sit and listen or try and join in being a character, choosing what happens next, choosing the ending etc.

* Little containers - such as snack cups (which will come in handy whilst on holiday to store snacks) with some accesories such as plastic spoons, sachets (you can collect these from the meal trays on flights) etc. Toddlers love to open containers and pop things in, pour from one container to another, pretend to cook and stir etc! Simple but very effective and will keep toddlers entertained for quite some time!

* Re-usable sticker play scenes



Toddlers love stickers, so this is a perfect travel toy for them! They can stick, pull them off, and re-stick. This is also great for their fine motor, to learn to "peel off" can be quite tricky but it's a good way to learn with a bit of help. They are then in charge of where to stick them and how the story is played out - lots of fun for little ones.

What are your toddler's favourite travel toys?

Maths Games For 4 Year Olds

My youngest son turned 4 not long ago and it has been amazing to see his interest in maths take off. There are so many ways that you can introduce maths games to your 4 year old in every day life:

• Read the numbers on letter boxes.
• Sorting and putting the cutlery away.
• Cooking in the kitchen as they measure ingredients.
• Helping you with the shopping - grabbing 4 apples for you!

Once they have begun to master number identification and counting you can then begin introducing slightly more complex math games for your 4 year old. A simple and fun game for this age group is Travel Maths Spin. Kids can learn basic maths skills with this unique Maths Game – understand counting, number sequences and relationships.

The maths game is made up of eight colourful magnetic wheels (3.8cm in diameter) which contain numbers from 0-9 and special wheels that contain the operation and equation symbols (+, -, x, /, =, >, < etc).

It comes with a booklet which gives parents and teachers suggestions of age appropriate games that help develop fundamental maths concepts. A pouch to store the game is also provided, making it the perfect game to take with you when you are traveling with the kids.

The game is recommended for ages 4 years old and up.

Preschool Educational Toys - What To Look For?

There are many fantastic Preschool Educational Toys on the market now, so as a parent it can be a little overwhelming to know what to look for to make the best choice for your child.

Here are some things that you may like to take into consideration when purchasing educational toys for your preschooler:

Interactive
Does the toy require children to be an active participant? It is important that the toy needs the child to do more than simply just listen or watch it in action. Toys like blocks, threading sets and puzzles require the preschooler to be active in their play.

Stimulate their Imagination
Does the toy allow the preschooler to use his or her imagination when they play with the toy? Although children may be drawn to branded toys due to the flood of marketing that they have been exposed to, these types of toys can limit childrens' imagination. That is, children may tend to play with these toys in a way that they have seen on the associated movie or TV show.

Toys like finger puppets are like a blank canvas to kids and they can let their imagination run wild with their very own puppet shows that they can perform. As part of the preschool educational range of toys we have at ickle Kids, we stock a number of different sets of finger puppets, like these very cute Pirate Finger Puppets:




Problem Solving
Does the toy require the preschooler to solve a problem? Toys that help little children practise their problem solving skills have the benefits of teaching them about perseverance, option evaluation, risk taking and logical thinking.



For instance in a game like Camelot Jnr (which is one of our best sellers!) the child has to build a path so the knight can save the princess. It is a multi-level logic game which focuses on spatial and problem solving skills.

Fine Motor Skills
Does the toy allow your preschooler to practise their fine motor skills? Practising fine motor skills with toys like threading, drawing, peg boards are essential for preschoolers. To be able to learn to write, little ones need to practise their fine motor control and strengthen their finger muscles, so it is beneficial for your child to have toys that encourage this endeavour.

One single toy will not necessarily have all of these elements I have listed. When buying educational toys for your preschooler, if you do look out for these elements, over time you will be able to build up a collection of educational toys that enhances the educational development of your preschooler.

Improving Kids Literacy With Educational Toys and Games

As a parent it can be easy to think that the only way we can help our kids with literacy is to read to them or have them practice their reading. But supporting literacy in the home encompasses much more than that. Educational Toys and Games are a great way to make the focus on literacy fun.

The well regarded PBS Parents website has a great article on "How To Create A Literate Home" for your children and lists these essentials for homes that have kids who have begun reading and writing:

• Books
• Writing Materials
• Computer
• Videos
• Games
• Reading and Writing Materials for Parents

And it suggests you do the following with your child:

• Help your child pick independent reading books.
• Foster your child's independent reading. Reading a lot at this stage is important.
• Read aloud to your child.
• Listen to your child read often.
• Help your child to correct her own reading errors.
• Talk about things that interest your child.
• Play games with your child. Playing games contributes to your child's literacy development.
• When he begins getting homework, help your child to create a homework routine.
• Help your child with her homework, but don't do it for her.
• Communicate with your child's teacher regularly.

ickle kids have a new range of Educational Toys and Games that can help you create the literate home environment like:



Word Magic Mixer is a fun educational game for children to play by themselves or to play in groups. Roll the mixer and see what letters show up, what words can you make from the letters on the dice? Each letter in the mixer can only be used once to make up a word, each letter earns a point ... how many points can you score? A fantastic game that will keep challenging students over and over again! For ages 8+.



Link 26 is a fun educational game that the whole family can play. It will challenge everyone to think quickly and link together words that fit into the challenge category. The starting letter of each word must be the last letter of the previous word!

For example, spread the 26 letter tiles on the table and draw a category card. Say the category is “a type of jungle animal” – player one says picks up the "E" tile and says “elephant”, player two picks up the “T” tile and says “tiger” and so on. Make sure you pick up the tile on the table to ensure you score points! For ages 10+.


What other educational games have you played with the kids that helps support and develop their literacy?

Travel Toys For Baby

For most parents preparing to travel with a baby, top of the packing list is travel toys to amuse baby! Whether you are traveling by car, plane or train having travel toys for baby that are easy to access and having a way to store them when not in use is key to making sure your baby is entertained.

ickle Kids can help meet this need with our sweet ickle Bubba Pack. This is the perfect travel toy for baby. It includes:

• A wooden animal picture clip
• Wooden animal bead frame
• Wooden animal egg clapper
• Wooden animal push toy

And of course it is all contained with its very own travel bag. This travel set will suit short or long distance travel. By having it stored in a convenient location in the house, if you have to head out in the car for any time, you can simply grab the bag and instantly you will have an activity pack to entertain you baby!

This is the first post in our series of Travel Toys for kids of particular ages. We will be giving you ideas on what travel toys to pack for Toddlers, Preschoolers, early primary and later primary school aged kids.

Melbourne Educational Show 2010 - Ickle Kids Educational Toys

Come visit Ickle Kids - Educational Toys at :

Where - The Education Show
Date - Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th August 2010
Venue - Caufield Racecourse, Station Street, Caufield, Melbourne
Time - 10am till 4pm

The Education Show provides teachers and school leaders with a great professional development opportunity and to access the latest in education. There will be over 100 exhibitors and 60 seminars for teachers to have a look at.

This will be our 2nd year showcasing our educational toys at the Education Show and we would love to see you all there.